Is it possible to construct a sequence like this?

  • Thread starter Thread starter kindlychung
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Sequence
Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
4 replies · 2K views
kindlychung
Messages
10
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement


Is it possible to construct a sequence like this? If yes, please construct one, if not, give a proof. See the attached pic for requirements for the sequence to be constructed.


Homework Equations


NO


The Attempt at a Solution


I know how to construct a sequence that has subsequences that converge to a finite number of limits, such as:
1, -1, 1, -1, ...
1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, ...

This problem brings the sine function to my mind, but since R is uncountable, it's not possible to build a sequence that contains terms that has a 1-1 correspondence with sin(x).

I might as well ask: what is the cardinality of [tex]N \times N[/tex]?
[tex]card N \times N = card N ?[/tex]
In that case I could just repeat the sequence {1, 1/2, 1/3, ...} over and over again.
 

Attachments

  • 2010-09-26-235502_911x62_scrot.png
    2010-09-26-235502_911x62_scrot.png
    9.1 KB · Views: 510
Physics news on Phys.org
I don't know what you are referring to when you talk about the sine function considering the sequence in question only takes of rational numbers; which are countable.

Anyway, NxN has the same cardinality has N.
 
kindlychung said:
In that case I could just repeat the sequence {1, 1/2, 1/3, ...} over and over again.

You can't just stick it after itself over and over again

{1,1/2,1/3,...,1,1/2,1/3,...,1,1/2,1/3,..}

isn't a sequence. Which natural number does the second 1 correspond to? You essentially need to find a bijection between N and NxN in order to write down the sequence you want
 
If NxN has the same cardinality has N, then by definition there is a bijection between N and NxN.
 
kindlychung said:
If NxN has the same cardinality has N, then by definition there is a bijection between N and NxN.

There are many of them.

In fact, a one to one function on N would do.